


Coffee

by SJ_Mermaid



Series: Zutara Week 2016 [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-09 20:32:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7816165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJ_Mermaid/pseuds/SJ_Mermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara and Zuko meet in a coffee shop, the rest is history</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Meet-Cute

The girl with the blue necklace, blew through the door of the coffee shop carrying two thick textbooks in her arms. She waltzed up to the counter and without even looking at the menu above it, ordered a large cinnamon swirl latte. She struggled for a moment, wriggling her wallet out from her bag. The tall, lean boy behind the counter, stared at her, frozen in his spot. He wasn't sure what to say, his first instinct was to offer her some assistance, but for some reason his mouth seemed to be glued shut. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she retrieved her wallet and paid for her drink, dumping her change into the tip jar.   
   
The boy turned around, facing the elderly man coming from the back room. His face exasperated, he hid it in his hands. This had happened before, on several occasions. The girl came in about once a week and they still hadn’t spoken, beside the polite 'Hello, what can I get you?’ etc. The gray-haired man, who had a friendly face, let out a robust, but kind laugh. After he set down the box he had been carrying, he turned to the boy, wrapping one arm around him.   
   
“Zuko”, began the kind-faced man “You seem tense, you should try some of the new jasmine tea we just got in, it's supposed to be very soothing”  
   
“I don't want any jasmine tea, Uncle” snapped the young man. The casual observer would have thought the boys answer rude and rife with attitude, but the older man didn't even flinch at his curt words. He slipped out of his uncle's grip and began to grab the necessary ingredients for the girls latte. When he was almost done, setting the large cup and saucer on a small tray, he had a thought. He leaned over the counter, looking at the pretty girl. His uncle's place was fairly small and thus he could generally see all the customers from his vantage point at the counter. The girl had caramel colored skin, with long golden brown hair the color of milk chocolate, when she looked up at him, he could see that her eyes were the color of the ocean.   
   
“Hey,” he started, trying to find the right words “Did you, uh, want whip, er , Whipped Cream on your, uh, latte?” He felt like slapping himself, just out of the awkwardness.   
   
At first she seemed a little dazed by the question, but sure enough, “Sure!” came the upbeat reply. They both found themselves chuckling at this exchange, partly out of the awkwardness. After a beat, the caramel skinned girl said, “Sorry, I was reading so it took me a second to understand what you were asking,” still chuckling, she asked, “I didn't realize that it came with whip?”  
   
“Hey, it's no problem. It normally doesn't but I thought that since you're a frequent customer that you know…” said Zuko trailing off. As he carried out her drink, he asked, “What are you reading?”  
   
“Oh”" she began, trying to move some of her papers out of the way so he could set down her drink, now freshly topped with whipped cream “'The Human Body in Health & Disease'”, she read aloud “We're actually studying the heart right now, It's all really fascinating.”   
   
“Oh, Sounds like fun…”   
   
“Sorry, I know most people don't find this stuff interesting, but I'm kind of a nerd so…” she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders  
   
“So, you go to school here?”  
   
“Yeah actually I go to BSSU, how about you? Do you also go to school there? It's such a big place so unless you're in the pre-med program, we probably wouldn't have met.”   
   
“No, I go to Ba Sing Se Community College.” he answered, his cheeks slightly flushed.  
   
“Oh, neat," she said without a hint of pity “What are you studying?”  
   
“Well, I haven’t declared a major yet, I'm still weighing my options” he said simply.  
   
“What are you interested in? What about coffee and tea studies - it's truly an art form” she said jokingly  
   
“No,” he said chuckling “But I'm sure my uncle would love it, he's sort of a tea fanatic”  
   
“Your Uncle?”  
   
“Oh yeah, the old fat guy you see running around here. He owns the place and was nice enough to offer me a job. He thinks tea is a cure-all”   
   
Together they laughed, Zuko was surprised how easy it was to laugh with her. She had such a pretty laugh, making him feel at ease. “I'm sorry, I'll let you study” he said, turning to go.  
   
“Oh, okay, unless you want to sit?” She said gesturing to the open chair across from her.   
   
“Nah, that's okay, I should get back to work, I really need to serve all these customers” he said, gesturing to the empty café.   
   
She chuckled, and he smiled in return. As he walked toward the counter, she called “Wait, I didn't get your name.”   
   
“Zuko” he responded  
   
“Ooh, That's pretty” she said “I'm Katara.”


	2. Katara returns home

When Katara returned home, she closed the door softly behind her. She leaned against it for a moment, halting her humming, something she had realized she'd been doing, and let out a deep sigh. Her arms felt like Jell-O, her textbooks weren't getting any lighter and the walk home any shorter. She placed her keys in the small bowl by the front door, calling out a hello to her brother. She could hear him and Aang in the living room playing video games, like usual.  
   
“Hey, sis!” called out Sokka  
   
“How was school?” shouted Aang. This had become sort of an established practice between the three of them, she was about to answer with her basic reply of 'Fine' when she heard a 3 long beeps coming from the other side of the apartment. She knew that sound, all too well.  
   
“Sokka!” she shouted, “That better not be the load I put in this morning! You know it's not good for the laundry to sit wet like that all day!”  
   
“Sorry” came the reply, in chorus.  
   
Katara rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself, partly in exasperation. She brought her things to her room, and then headed to the laundry area of the kitchenette. She removed the wet clothes from the washer and hung them all up on the rack by the window. She grabbed a soda from the fridge and headed to the living room where the two boys sat. She sat in the chair adjacent to them, leaning back and closing her eyes.  
   
“What's so funny, Katara?”  
   
Katara lifted a lid, and saw Aang staring at her with his normal wide eyed expression. “hmmm?”  
   
“You were smiling. What was so funny? Did something happen at school today?”  
   
“Was it Aang's playing? Cause I'm kicking his ass” sneered Sokka, laughing at himself.  
   
“No, nothing.” Replied Katara, smoothing out her skirt. She hadn't realized that she'd been smiling, hoping for a change of subject she asked “So, What did you guys get up to today?”  
   
“Oh you know the usual… We played video games, and then ate, and then played some more.” supplied Aang  
   
“Did you go to School today? Or even try to look for work?” Katara looked at her watch and saw that she had only a hour before she, herself had to be at work.  
   
“'Tara, you know we did absolutely none of that stuff.”  
   
“I tried to convince him otherwise, but he just wouldn't have it”  
   
At this point Katara had to roll her eyes. “I'm sure you were just too happy to go along with Sokka's plan of eating jerky and playing games all day, huh, Aang?”  
   
Aang gave her an apologetic look, while Sokka just shrugged his shoulders. “Tomorrow, sis, I promise.”  
   
“You say that everyday” replied Katara, as she got up to leave.  
   
“And you believe it everyday!” called out Sokka  
   
She headed to her bedroom, and removed the school supplies from her bag, setting them neatly on her desk. She grabbed her name tag and stuffed that into the pocket of her coat. She paused for a moment in front of the mirror, making sure her braid was still in place. She centered her mothers necklace as it hung around her neck and headed out.  
   
“Bye boys, there is lasagna in the freezer. You know the drill”  
   
“Ew, Lasagna…” came the reply from the living room “Ow! Hey! I mean that sounds great, thanks, sis!” Katara rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this was on the short side. But I have a couple of chapters already written and ready to go. I'll probably keep posting a new chapter every Friday. But I'm considering also posting on Tuesday... What do you guys think? Comment and let me know!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> xoxo SJ Mermaid


	3. The Chiropractic Center

As Katara sat in her chair at work, she rolled her neck and stretched out her back in her chair. After sitting practically all day, her joints sometimes got a little stiff. Next to her, the phone began to ring. She plucked it off the cradle and answered with her normal spiel. 

“Hello, Dr. Xi’an’s Chiropractic Clinic, Katara speaking. How can I assist you?” 

After helping the client on the other end of the line, setting up an appointment for her the following week, Katara’s mind began to drift. Her thoughts wondered over to the boy at the Coffee Shop. _What was his name again? Zuko, That’s right. Pretty Name… Pretty Boy…_ She thought about his soft black hair and the large scar over his left eye. She wondered where he had gotten it from, she knew from med school that it had to be at least several years old. She hadn’t wanted to stare when they spoke earlier, but she had found it almost attractive. 

She tried to pay attention to her work, focusing on upcoming appointments. When she found herself distracted still, she began to alphabetize files, which she knew, would take up most of her attention. She heard the soft ding of the bell on the door, announcing the arrival of new customers. She quickly glanced up, and saw an elderly man come in.

“Just a second” she called out. She finished up with the file she was working on, put it in its proper place and swiveled around in her chair to face the walk-in. 

“Hey, Welcome to Dr. Xi’an’s! What can I help you with?” She asked smiling. 

“Hello, I’ve been having some back pain, and just between you and me, I think it’s nothing. I know, I’m not the spry chicken I once was, but I’m not _that_ old either, But my nephew thinks I need to get it checked out, so-”

“He just needs an appointment. She doesn’t need your whole life story, Uncle” spoke the dark-haired boy who had just appeared by the older man’s side. Katara almost didn’t recognize him at first. 

“Oh, Is this your Uncle?” she asked Zuko. 

“Hey, Katara, I didn’t know you worked here” said Zuko simply.

“Yeah, I’m a Receptionist here part time” 

“You don’t get enough of medicine at school?”

“Not really, I like helping people. Sometimes, when it’s slow they let me sit in on appointments, it makes for a really good learning experience.” said Katara, Zuko simply nodded.

“Zuko, Do you know this lovely young woman?”

“Oh, sorry,” said Katara, reaching out her hand, “I’m Katara, a frequent customer of the Jasmine Dragon. That’s actually where Zuko and I met” 

“Oh, well it’s nice to know he’s making friends” said the man, Katara looked at Zuko and saw him rolling his eyes. 

Flustered and slightly confused, she said, “I’m so sorry, you said you needed an appointment?” 

“Yes, I’ve been having some back pain, and this one worries” he said, nudging Zuko with his elbow, who rolled his eyes again. 

“Well, our normal practice is to first have a consultation with one of our doctors and then they will decided what kind of appointments that’ll you’ll need, but the Doctor will go over all that with you.” She opened up her computer screen to check appointment times “We actually have time for a consultation now, if you’d like, and then afterwards you and I can set up future appointments” 

“That sounds absolutely wonderful” replied the elderly man

“Okay so, let me just get your name.” She said, positioning her hands over the keyboard to fill in the appointment. 

“Iroh, but in college they called me The Dragon of the West” he said with a big grin. Katara laughed as she collected the necessary forms. She clipped them together and handed them and a pen over to Iroh. 

“Well, it is very nice to meet you Iroh. If you’ll just wait right here and fill these out, I’ll go talk to the Doctor. Would either of you like anything to drink while you wait? Tea? Coffee?”

“No Thanks” said Zuko

“Ooh, some tea would be greatly appreciated” said Iroh. 

“All right I’ll be back with your Tea, in just a mo’ ” said Katara as she walked into the back. As she began to boil some water for the tea she could overhear the two in the waiting room. 

“Isn’t that the pretty girl from the shop this morning? You should ask her out. You don’t get out enough Zuko. You should take her with you to that concert next weekend. What are they called, again? The plated women?”

“You mean The Painted Ladies, Uncle.” said Zuko. Katara couldn’t hear anymore as the pair had walked to the other side of the waiting room. She quickly scampered to the back room to speak with Iroh’s attending.


	4. Reception

Katara and Zuko chatted the entire time Iroh was in the consultation room. He talked about working at the Jasmine Dragon, he even told her a few stories of terrible customers he had to deal with. 

“And she was still standing there complaining about the twenty, when I had the ten right there in my hand!” 

She told him about living with Sokka, how she did _everything_ for him. Somehow the topic drifted to Sokka’s girlfriend, Suki, and how the two of them had met and bonded over their shared love for a band, The Painted Ladies. 

“-And so, Sokka totally abandons me to go off with this random girl. And I was left all alone. Don’t get me wrong, the concert was awesome but I could have down without the guy behind me spilling his beer down my shirt”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” he said laughing “So, you like The Painted Ladies?”

“Yeah, I love them!”

“Me too. I’m actually going to their concert this weekend”

“Huh, crazy! Sokka is actually taking Suki to the concert this Friday for their one year anniversary. They’re letting me tag along, but, um, if you want we could maybe meet up? I mean I don’t know if you are, actually never mind, you are probably meeting some friends, or something” She said, she had no idea why she was so nervous. _It’s not as if this was a date, or anything. They were just going as friends…right?_

“Um,” started Zuko

_Oh god, oh god. Why did I say something so stupid? It’s okay, he’ll just let you down easy and then you can hide under a rock and never have to see him again…_

“Sure”, he finished

_Wait, what?_

“Great!” she said, trying not to seem too overjoyed. “Why don’t we meet you in front of the shop, say, around 7:30, it’s on our way.” 

“That sounds good” He replied, a soft smile curling around the edge of his lips. Katara took note of how nice his smile was.

“Awesome, I guess we will see you then?” she replied, Zuko started to say something but just then his Uncle came from the back. He had a robust voice and it tended to carry across the clinic’s small waiting room. He and his doctor were laughing over some joke that Katara hadn’t heard. 

“Yes, so, our lovely receptionist Katara will set you up with your next appointments.” said the doctor, motioning to Katara and handing her the clipboard with all the forms she needed to fill out Iroh’s patient file. 

She helped Iroh make his next few appointments. He kept making silly jokes and spewing out sayings, like a fortune cookie factory. Zuko, good-naturedly, rolled his eyes after every one. Katara even thought she almost caught him smiling, after Iroh made a joke about Pai Sho. After logging everything onto the computer, she waved goodbye to the two men as they walked out of the clinic. 

“Well, we’ll see ya Friday” she had said to Zuko. 

“See ya” he had said simply, ignoring his Uncles questioning glance.


	5. Girl Talk

When Katara returned home from work, she dropped all of her things, and with nary a hello, immediately grabbed the landline and brought it into her room. She called the only girl that she could turn to for this kind of stuff. 

“Suki,” she said when she heard the other line pick up. 

“Hey K, What’s up?” 

“What are you wearing?” said Katara, pacing in front of her bed. 

“Now? A t-shirt and Jeans…?” answered Suki questioningly 

“No, not now. To the Concert on Friday!” 

“Ummmm, Probably just a T-shirt and Jeans? Why?”

“Ugh, you are no help. Maybe I should just call Toph? She always knows what to wear!” the two girls laughed. Her feet tired, Katara collapsed onto her bed letting her legs dangle off the edge. “Do you think a dress is to much?”

“I think that you should wear whatever you feel comfortable in.” said Suki simply, sounding like some sort of fashion guru, before adding, “But, yeah, a dress is to much.”

“I thought so” groaned Katara.

“Why would you want to wear a dress? It’s only a concert, besides, remember what happened last year?” 

“Yeah,” said Katara laughing at the memory “I do” 

“Look, wear whatever you’ll be comfortable in” 

“Yeah you’re right. I’ll just wear my Painted Ladies shirt with my denim skirt and some black leggings. Oh also” she added quickly, “I invited a friend, well not invited exactly but we’re gonna meet him on the way.”

“Ohhhhhhh” 

“What?” 

“I get it now. That’s what this whole dress thing is about. So, what’s his name?”

“Who said it was a he?” Katara replied. On the other side of the line, Suki rolled her eyes as she could hear Katara’s voice go up an octave. 

“Tell. Me. His. Name.” Suki said slowly, enunciating every word.

“It’s Zuko. He works at the Jasmine Dragon.” Katara noticed how nice the name felt on her tongue. _Zuko… Zuko… Zu-_

“Wait, the one with the scar? I’ve seen him around. He’s cute. I say skip the leggings. And wear your hair down, you put it up in that braid way to often” 

“Thanks? I didn’t realize I had called the fashion police” said Katara, chuckling. 

“Look girl I got to run, I have Krav Maga in an hour.” 

“Alright, I’ll see you Friday” 

“Bye, K!” 

“Bye!” Katara returned the phone to cradle and changed out of her clothes.


	6. Past, Plans, and Lasagne

She crashed onto her bed, she was so tired from the days events that all she wanted to do was fall into a coma and sleep for about, _oh_ , 100 years. When her stomach growled at her, she remembered that she hadn’t eaten in a few hours. As she got up, she groaned as if the effort had been too much to handle. “Boys?” she called out, she had heard them in the living room when she came home. She could still hear them chatting about some video game character. When they didn’t respond she shlepped herself to the living room and asked them if they had saved her any lasagne. 

“Wait, You wanted some too?” asked Sokka,

“I thought it was just for us.” added Aang.

“Boys,” she groaned, “That was supposed to last **TWO** whole meals! How did you eat it all?” 

“Dunno, we were pretty hungry.” replied Sokka.

“Yeah, if you weren’t so cranky, you’d actually be really impressed.” added Aang, not lifting his eyes away from his game. 

“I’m not cranky!” she said, not realizing how loud and shrill her voice had gotten, “Okay maybe a little cranky…” 

“It’s okay sis, I think we have some of last Thursday’s casserole left over. I’ll go heat it up.” said Sokka, pausing their game, to Aang’s dismay, and heading to the kitchen. Katara and Aang followed Sokka into the Kitchen, he sat on the counter and she at the table. Her head began to feel heavy, so rested it on the table. 

“Don’t fall asleep, Katara. You need sustenance!” said Aang, loudly. Pronouncing it _'soo-stance'_

“Sustenance” she corrected him automatically. 

“Whatever. You need to enjoy your food! You don’t appreciate it until you’ve been fed through a tube for a 100 years.”

“Bro. It was not a 100 years.” Sokka commented, slamming the microwave door shut. 

“Okay, fine! But it sure felt like it!” said Aang, playing defense. 

“It didn’t feel like anything. It was a coma!” said Katara, laughing. 

“Oh, yeah sure. You’re a Doctor now, you know _everything_ ” said Aang, playfully. 

“ _Almost_ everything” she added.

Katara and Sokka knew all about his past, When Aang was about 12, he had run away from home after a fight with his parents. They had started planning his whole life. From which schools he would go to (Private High School and then Ivy league colleges) to who he would end up with (“A sensible girl from a respectable family”). They had told him the _Legacy_ of their family was dependent upon him. After that he had run away and hid. 

His memory of the accident is shaky but the doctors told him he had been hit by a car. He’d been in a coma for just over a year as a 'John Doe'. As it turned out, though he didn’t know this at the time, his parents had died in a mugging while he was in Hospital and he’d remained unidentified. He’d awoken as a 13-year-old boy and spent the next few months in Physical and mental therapy. He was placed with a foster family in the South Pole, that’s how the three had met. They’d spent the summer running around, playing fun games. They’d gone sledding and swimming and flying. It was one of the best summer in Katara’s memory. 

She heard the _beep - beep_ of the microwave and Sokka retrieved the tubberware from inside and slide it in front of Katara. 

“Eat up, sis”

“Thanks, Sokka” she said, and dug in. Though the casserole was cold in the middle and smelled like it had been in the freezer _loooooong_ before last Thursday, it somehow tasted like one of the best recipes. Sitting in the kitchen with the boys, hanging out and making jokes, it was just like old times again.


End file.
